Hikari the Magical Girl
by reminiscent-afterthought
Summary: It was easy to mistake him for a cat in the dark, but it wasn't a mistake she should have made.
1. The Contract

**A/N:** Merry Christmas everyone! And a special Merry Christmas to Aiko Isari – my draw from the hat for the secret santa gift exchange. And because she loves Hikari torture and PMMM just as much as I do…well, this idea was born. It's split in to three parts because it seems to flow overall better that way, so enjoy Aiko. :D And anyone else who decides to read as well of course.

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><p><strong>Hikari the Magical Girl<strong>

_Part 1  
><strong>The Contract<strong>_

It was easy to mistake him for a cat in the dark, but it wasn't a mistake she should have made.

Not that she could have known that at the time, carrying the small rain-soaked little form home with her, huddled under her jacket. Though she shouldn't have been doing that anyway, because she needed both hands to hold the little creature so she'd slung her umbrella over her arm. And the hood of her raincoat was only so good at keeping the rain out, particularly when it was blown off, so she came home properly soaked herself and earned a scolding from her mother.

But soon both she and the creature she'd mistaken for a cat were nice and warm in the bathtub – and now that she was indoors and the light was on and she was scrubbing away at the fur without the creature trying to scramble out of her hold like cats did, she could see quite well it was _not_ a cat.

'Hello,' she said, surprised. 'I wonder what sort of creature you are.'

'An incubator,' the creature replied, causing little Hikari to blink in surprise. Maybe she would have screamed if she were older, or less innocent, but she wasn't either of those things so she simply blinked.

'Incubator?'

'My name is Kyubey.' The Incubator, or so it said it was, licked a paw, then dipped it delicately in the water.

Hikari followed the movement with her eyes. 'Do you like it?' she asked. 'I can make it warmer if you like?'

'It's fine.' The tail flicked. 'More importantly, do you have a wish?'

She blinked again. 'What sort of wish?' she asked. 'Like, for a birthday cake?'

Kyubey laughed. 'Say I'm the genie in the lamp and could grant you one wish. Are you familiar with the story?'

'Yes,' said Hikari, but a little hesitantly. It wasn't a Japanese tale, so she only knew it because her brother's friend's father had told it to them one time. Sora was nice. Her father was a good story-teller too, but he wasn't like her mother that always made them yummy cookies when they went to visit and made small talk. He reminded Hikari of a grandfather more than a father…and she'd only met him once or twice as well. Even Taichi, who often went to Sora's without her as well, said he barely saw her. Their father was always home on weekends and before they went to bed on school nights, even if he was late getting home because he'd gotten stuck in traffic or had gone out drinking with his friends first. Their mother scolded him, but Hikari found it funny how he'd always nuzzle his stubbled cheeks to her own. Taichi found it funny as well.

But their father was a businessman, not a folklore expert. That was Sora's father, and Aladdin and the Genie in the lamp wasn't a story for the bedtimes of Japanese children. Hikari wondered why Kyubey had saw fit to mention it.

'Not many young Japanese children would have heard of it,' Kyubey remarked. 'Once they're older, influences from other parts of the world creep in, but you're young still.'

'My brother's friend,' Hikari explained, though she dropped a little at the comment. Young, inexperienced…and she still needed protecting. From people. From the elements. From the demons in her dreams and the viruses and bacteria in her own body that struck her down the moment her defences against them wavered a little. She was fine then, but that time in the rain was going to give her a cold tomorrow, even with the warm bath.

She smiled though. 'We'll just have to make sure you won't get a cold then,' she said, rubbing Kyubey's fur firmly. The Incubator purred just like a cat at the treatment, though it did comment. 'I won't get sick.'

'That's good.' But Hikari rubbed it more anyhow. It was better to be safe than sorry. 'I will, probably. But I don't want to. Being sick isn't fun.'

'Of course not.' And Kyubey sounded sympathetic. 'What would you do if you weren't?'

'Hmm…' Hikari closed her eyes and blew a few bubbles in the bath. 'Play with my bother. And get stronger. Somehow.'

Kyubey smiled. It had a funny sort of smile, Hikari noted. Sort of like a cat but not quite. 'I can grant you that wish.'

Hikari stared. Kyubey looked like it really could. It could talk after all. And it looked almost just like a cat and they were talking nicely – but Taichi was always talking nicely to her too, except he was also always trying to protect her and this was a little different… Kyubey wasn't trying to protect her. It was offering to help her become strong enough to protect herself, so Taichi – and even Taichi's friend Sora – wouldn't have to protect her any more.

Kyubey offered a paw. Hikari smiled and took it.

She didn't even feel herself losing her soul.


	2. The Soul Gem

**Hikari the Magical Girl**

_Part 2  
><strong>The Soul Gem<strong>_

She was strong. She could fight her own demons, and other people's demons too. That cold never came, and she could go out and play with her brother after all. And the cold never did come back, no matter how many other days the weather turned foul, how many other days she tried to rescue a poor kitten – and this time they really were all kittens – and the rain crept past her umbrella and under her hood as a result.

And all it had taken was a little jewel she now wore around her neck to unlock those abilities.

She still hadn't realised that that little jewel was now her soul.

And now she fought other things as well. Things she hadn't even known existed before. Things Taichi wouldn't have been able to protect her from. Things she _could_ protect him from. And his friend Sora. And other friends he made, and introduced her to. Yamato and Koushirou and Mimi and Jyou… He made friends and looked out for her and she fought the bad guys and looked out for him behind his back and it was a happy life.

And Kyubey came and went but visited, always visited her. Just like a good friend. Even more than Miko did, and Miko was supposed to be their family's cat. Miko shied from her now, though. Went to Taichi. Always Taichi. Even though Taichi wasn't the cat-lover Hikari was.

But Kyubey was still there and Hikari couldn't bring herself to mind too much.

Taichi still didn't know. Hikari hadn't shown him yet, but she expected to soon. Just as soon as she got a little bit stronger. Enough to protect him from his demons. But demons didn't seem to like Taichi. They were always strangers she saved. Not that she didn't mind helping strangers. She didn't mind helping anyone.

And she collected her spoils of victory. Little bead like things Kyubey called "grief seeds" – that made shadows go mad and become demons, and that could be used by special girls like her to become stronger, to beat even more of those bad shadows. So she collected them. And she used them. She restored her energy with them.

Not all the demons – the witches, Kyubey called them – had grief seeds. The ones with grief seeds are stronger, he explained to her. It was also only those ones that would renew her. It was like food, he explained. All the nutrients she needed to grow were in the ones with grief seeds.

Still, she couldn't just let the others run around causing trouble. So she fought them all, and often Kyubey had to caution her. 'Don't use up too much energy.' 'You don't have any grief seeds to revive your power.' 'You can't afford to battle ones that don't have grief seeds right now.'

She confessed it was a little frustrating, but when the alternative was that she'd go back to how she was, lying sick in bed every other week and slated for at least three hospital trips in a year, she couldn't disobey. Still, it wasn't a nice feeling at all. Who knew how many people would get hurt before she was recovered enough to protect them.

'Aren't there any other magical girls?' she asked Kyubey, one day.

'There are.' Kyubey bit deeply into the watermelon slice she'd offered him. 'But most of them fight only for the grief seeds.'

'But…' That sounded wrong to her. They had this power. They should be protecting people with it.

'Do you want to meet one?' Kyubey asked.

Hikari thought a moment, then nodded. Maybe it would be a good idea. And it would be someone other than Kyubey to talk about these things with. She confessed she was getting a little lonely. If only she could tell Taichi – but she knew full well Taichi wouldn't believe her until he saw for himself. And demons didn't seem to like Taichi.

Though she supposed she should be happy that Taichi didn't need protection. That Taichi was safe.

Except Taichi still tried to protect her and she didn't need protecting either.

She was old enough to ride the train on her own too, though it took a bit to convince her parents. They didn't know either. And it would be a while after Taichi if she ever told them.

And so Kyubey took her on a little trip to meet another magical girl.


	3. The Grief Seed

**Hikari the Magical Girl**

_Part 3  
><strong>The Grief Seed<strong>_

She was cat-like. And older than Hikari. But Kyubey said she was quite ordinary. For a magical girl, anyhow.

The girl didn't seem to think much of Kyubey though. Or Hikari. In fact, she kicked Kyubey and sent him scurrying away even as Hikari cried out.

'Silly naïve girl,' the other sneered, before turning away. She paused though, and then reconsidered something.

A few minutes later, Hikari found herself being treated to an ice-cream.

'Thank you,' she said politely.

The other girl just shrugged. 'What do you know about the contract?' she asked, instead. 'Was your wish worth it?'

Hikari blinked. 'It's hard work,' she confessed. 'And it's hard when I don't have enough power to catch all the demons – ' _Witches_, her mind corrects. But she prefers calling them demons anyhow. 'But it's good otherwise.'

The girl snorted. 'And what was your wish? To get a discount at the local shopping mall?'

The girl's scorning made her cower a little. Taichi would have put her in her place. Hikari knew that. And Hikari didn't need Taichi standing up for her. She was _strong_. Except she _did…_ 'No,' she answered, in a small voice. 'To be healthy.'

'Hmm…' The other girl seemed taken aback by the answer. But she recovers. 'Is it worth losing your soul over?'

Hikari didn't understand the question.

And the girl caught that, because she suddenly pressed on the soul gem Hikari wore around her neck.

Hikari screamed and seized immediately. The ice-cream fell from her hands and formed a nice pretty puddle on her dress. A scream burst from her lips and her mind cried: _it hurts, it hurts._

The girl lifted her finger and Hikari hung on to the edge of the seat and gasped for air.

'See,' the other said demurely, licking her ice cream. Her blue eyes flickered towards the top of her hand. But Hikari couldn't see why, once she'd regained her breath and that spasming pain was nothing but an echo left. There was nothing on that hand.

But Hikari had a more important question to ask. 'What did you do?'

'Hurt your soul,' the other replied simply. 'The soul gem – that's your life, you know.' She extended a finger, showing the cat-like claw. 'These are as tough as diamonds. If I cracked your soul gem, you'd be dead.'

Hikari couldn't believe it. 'That's not true! The soul gem gives me strength!'

The other laughed. 'Strength is the absence of your physical limitations. You wanted to be healthy, right? Were you sick before?' She didn't wait for Hikari to answer before she continued. 'You can't get sick if your body's just a shell, right? Even if I cut you here…'

Hikari let out a little gasp as the claw-like nail sliced her cheek. She put a hand to it, and felt blood.

'It won't leave a scar.' And the girl's voice lost its edge as she said that last part. She sounded almost…sad.

Kyubey reappeared then and led Hikari home, and Hikari thought about the other girl. What she'd said.

'Is it true?' she asked of him.

'It's true,' Kyubey replied. 'But what does it matter? You still have your body and soul and both are stronger now.'

'I suppose that's true…'

But there was an uncomfortable feeling in her chest afterwards.

She continued battling the demons though. Collecting grief seeds. Protecting everyone she could and hoping that, one day, she'd be able to protect Taichi as well.

And then, one day, she did get the opportunity to protect him. Though not in the way he'd imagined.

It was that girl Kyubey had taken her to meet. She'd come to see her one day, looking almost ill. Hikari had opened the door to see her on the doorstep, but before either of them could exchange words, before Hikari could take in anything else but the hopeless blue eyes and the general ill appearance – the girl collapsed and something black came out of her.

Hikari didn't even know her name. But she remembered her words. How the body was only a container. Not alive.

The soul gem hovered in the air. Her gem. But it was dark. Almost. And then it burst and the chain it'd been worn on morphed.

It became a grief seed before her very eyes, before it was swallowed by the rising shadow and made a demon.

Hikari backed away. She clasped her hands over her own soul gem in horror. Kyubey suddenly appeared in front of her. 'Despair,' he said demurely. 'Despair taints the soul gem.'

She clung to that, even though some small part of her mind was telling her she shouldn't be trusting him, after all the curve-balls that had been revealed. _Don't despair_, her mind chanted. _Be strong. Fight_.

She lifted her soul gem and transformed and fought.

Taichi was watching. She noticed that as she leapt through the door, forcing the demon – _Witch, _her mind reminded – back. Taichi was watching and he couldn't have picked a better time because his face was filled with fear and Hikari's desire to protect him outweighed everything else.

Once she was finished, once Taichi had had the chance to process everything, then that might change. But she couldn't think of that right then.

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><p><strong>AN:** So no digimon. :D I thought about it but decided I was aiming for too small a wordcount to do it justice. But Tailmon made a sort of appearance anyway. She's the unnamed magical girl: blue eyes, scar and claws.

Thank you everyone for reading. I didn't expect to get too many readers for this, so I'm happy. :)


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